Today’s reading comes from the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 24. If you open the Bible and start from the beginning, it is the fifth book: the first, second, third, fourth, and then the fifth. The first five books were written by Moses. And the name “Deuteronomy” means that God’s commandments are repeated once more—summarized and explained again.

We know that there are many gods in the world. The real question is this: Which god will you be connected with and live your life under? This is extremely important. As you know from life, relationships matter, don’t they? And if it is not just a short-term relationship of a few days, but one that lasts forever, then you must be even more careful in choosing. But here is the point—you have the right to choose. You have the choice of “which god you will live with.” That is why you must know well about that god. Perhaps some god may come to you and say, “I will make your business prosper. Bring a pig’s head and make a sacrifice to me.” When that happens, you should not just blindly believe because it promises success. You must first find out what kind of god it really is. Otherwise, you will end up being deceived. That is why it is so important to know this god.

The god I am introducing to you has all his works recorded in detail in this very book, the Bible. From when are his works recorded? From before the creation of the universe. And ever since humanity came to have what we call “history”—since the time when writing was developed and people could record—his works among those to whom he appeared have been written down in this book. This is how we can clearly know about him.

This god appeared to a man named Abraham and promised him, “I will make you a blessing. You will become a great nation, and through you all the nations of the world will be blessed.” After Abraham died, this covenant was renewed with his son. His son’s name was Isaac. And after Isaac died, it was again confirmed with his son Jacob. At that time, Jacob’s family numbered about seventy people. God then moved that family with whom He had made a covenant from the land of Canaan, in the region of Palestine, to Egypt. Egypt in those days was the most prosperous nation in the world—this was about 3,800 years ago. There in Egypt, over the course of about four hundred years, Jacob’s family grew from seventy people to more than one million. They became a nation.

Then, God brought them out of Egypt. Those one million people came out under the guidance of one man, Moses. From that time on, the nation of Israel became a kingdom that lived together with God. And to establish that kingdom, God gave them laws. Those laws are what we call the “Law.” Say it with me: the Law. That is how the Law was given—it was the law to govern Israel. God desired that the nation of Israel be ruled by this Law. Within it was contained God’s will. And if they would keep it faithfully, God believed that their nation would become truly righteous and very prosperous. So He presented that Law to them.

But think about laws. There are many countries in the world, and each one has its own laws. If you go to America, you will quickly see that the laws there are different from those in Korea.

Here in Korea, when the police say, “Stop right there,” some people might even try to run away. But do you know what happens if you run when the police in America tell you to stop? You could be shot right away. And you must obey their commands; if you try to argue or resist, it doesn’t matter even if you are a woman, they will throw you to the ground. It’s a frightening country. America has freedom, but in order to guarantee that freedom, laws have to be kept very strictly. Otherwise, people with force and power could never live together peacefully. In our country, many people think lightly of the police, don’t they? They even talk back to them. Sometimes teenagers will storm into a police station, cause chaos, and even destroy property just to get their friend released. And still, the police can’t do much about it. Not long ago, I saw on the news a young woman who was drunk. She walked unsteadily toward the policeman, grabbed hold of him, and the officer just stood there with his arms stretched out.

Do you know why? Because if he touched her the wrong way, she could accuse him of sexual harassment. But that’s the way the law is set out. Of course, when enforcing the law, it’s natural that an officer’s hand might touch someone. In a country where the system supports the police, they wouldn’t have to be afraid of that. But here in our country, the law is set out like this. Why is that? It’s because our people think that way. The general mindset of the people is at that level. And it is people who make the laws. Lawmakers, members of the National Assembly, create the laws, and they are elected by us. So the laws of a country always reflect the lifestyle, the way of life, and even the sentiments of its people. Sometimes we look at the laws of our country and think, “Why are they so weak, so loose?” It really is true. In a country like America, the legal system is highly developed. The same goes for Europe. But in our country, there is a limited variety of laws. They are still not very detailed.

I remember seeing a news story, maybe about ten years ago. There was a young woman who had been living as a prostitute. But she wasn’t alone—several women were locked up in a certain place, unable to leave through the barred windows, forced to sell their bodies. However she got there, it clearly was not the life she had chosen. Somehow, she managed to escape. She fled and ran to the police station to report it. She said, “Please save me! I’m being held captive.” While she was filing her report, guess who showed up? The pimp. The very person who had locked her up and mistreated her came to the station. And then the police handed her over to him. They sent her back. Unbelievable, right? But that is the law. In fact, the woman herself was treated as the criminal. Why? Because there had been a contract. It said, “From now on, you no longer have the right to your own body. You owe us a debt, and therefore we own you.” She had even put her seal on it. Because of that contract, she was already wanted for fraud. Even though she had escaped from being forced to sell her body, the pimp filed a fraud charge against her. So when she came to the police on her own, she was immediately handed over. When you hear a story like this, it makes you angry, doesn’t it? “What kind of law is this!” But nothing could be done, because that was the law.

So how can that be changed? How can that situation be fixed? The only way is to change the law. If the law is not changed, there is no solution. Otherwise, you just have to stand by and watch that woman be sent back. The only other option would be to take up sticks and go after them, breaking the law yourself. But that cannot be done. The law must be changed. Yet laws are not easily changed. Who changes the laws? Not the country in general, but the lawmakers in the National Assembly. They are the ones who must change them. But right now, there are already too many unpassed bills accumulated. They say they have no room to deal with matters like this because they choose to handle other things they are more interested in first. So every year, many detailed bills are proposed, but far more of them end up being rejected. So then, what if lawmakers do not make such laws? Then the people should not vote for them. But what happens? Our people still vote for them. Why? They vote for them for reasons like, “Because he’s from my hometown. Because he’s my senior. Because he looks kind.” So nothing changes. In the end, the laws always follow the standard of the people. That is why, when we cast our vote, we must think carefully. We should ask, “What kind of laws has this lawmaker made? How has he contributed to building good laws?” That is what we should examine before voting—not, “If I elect this lawmaker, he will build a subway station in our district! If I vote for him, our housing prices will go up!” That is the wrong approach. And so, the law always reflects the mindset and sprit of the people—and of the nation itself.

Now imagine if the laws were made by a king. Today, kings no longer do this, but in the past, they often did. In the Joseon Dynasty, under the rule of kings, and in the monarchies of Europe, kings would often intervene in lawmaking. And when they did, the laws reflected the king’s own sentiment and even his personality.

Now then, earlier we were talking about the Law, weren’t we? This god gave the Israelites the Law and said, “You must govern like this, and you must keep the law in this way.” But if you look closely at that Law, you can see the nature of this god. You can find out what kind of god he really is.

Think back to that law which handed the woman back to the pimp. Do you think that is a good law? Not at all—it makes no sense, doesn’t it? You don’t like it, right? Yet such a law is possible in a country where the people’s mindset is at that level. It is not something anyone would welcome. Now imagine a king making such a law. Would you want to live under that king? Of course not. In the same way, imagine a god who makes such a law—a god who decrees that even if the pimp comes, the woman must be handed over. Would you want to live with such a god? No! Earlier we read about the Law, and what exactly did we read there? Let me explain again. Out of the many statutes, this is just one part. What did it say? Imagine you are reaping your harvest in the field. You cut the grain, tie it into a sheaf, then cut more and tie another, and continue like that.

Suppose in the end you gathered fifty sheaves. You brought them home, but later when you counted, you found only forty-eight. That means you left two sheaves behind in the field. Now what should you do? Should you go back and get them, or not? According to our common sense, of course, you should! How could you just leave behind what you worked so hard to reap? That feels like a waste. In the old days, people were so stingy that even if they felt like urinating on the road, they would hold it until they got home, just to use it as fertilizer for their own field. That’s how thrifty they were, and we were taught to see that as a virtue. But in the Law that God gave to Israel, it says, “If you forget a sheaf in the field after reaping, you must not go back to get it!” Now we might ask, “Why not? Isn’t that foolish? Why waste it?” Why did He say this? For whose sake? He mentions three kinds of people: the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. The “stranger” is the foreigner—the one who does not belong to that land but is just passing through or staying for a while. The “fatherless” is the orphan, the one without parents. And the “widow” is the one without a husband. All of them are the vulnerable, those who are in a very difficult situation. So when such a person passes by and sees a sheaf lying there, he can say, “Oh! Here is a sheaf. Thank God!” and take it to eat. That is why the Lord said, “Do not go back to get it for yourself.”

Now do you begin to see the nature of this god who was willing to be with Israel? What do you think of this god? Do you like him or not? He is so full of compassion. The one who rules the entire universe even cares to say, “Leave one sheaf or two sheaves behind.” So careful, so full of kindness! This is the kind of god that we believe in.

And not only with the sheaf of grain, but also with the vineyard. When you go into your vineyard, of course, you will harvest the grapes. But as you harvest, you cannot gather them all perfectly. Some are left behind. So when you pass through once, you must not go back and strip the vines again to take what remains. Leave it there. Why? So that the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow may eat.

And there is one more: the olive tree. The olive produces the fruit that makes the oil you use. When you beat your olive trees to gather the fruit, after you have finished the harvest, you may notice, “Oh, that tree was not fully stripped.” Yet you must not go back to get the rest. Leave it. Again, it is for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.

Dear beloved, these three groups are mentioned again and again. Of course, they are not the only ones who need help. But they are the most representative—the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Think about the stranger. He has left his home, left his own country, and is now living in a place with completely different culture and customs. Do you think he came because he wanted to? Today, the refugee crisis is very serious, isn’t it? But I am not here to argue about whether we should accept refugees or not. Because the refugee issue also has political factors. Some are true refugees, while others are brought in for other purposes. But let us think for a moment about refugees in the purest sense.

Imagine a country at war. Back in the day, there were the so-called “boat people” from Vietnam. They were people trying to hold on to freedom and democracy, but they were driven out by communist forces. If they stayed, they would be killed. So they got on boats and went out to sea. They had no food. They had no water. They had no idea when or where they would arrive. They simply drifted on the open sea. Large ships passing by could see them. Then what should they do? These people were dying out there. A big cargo ship or a passenger might spot them, but to rescue them was a heavy burden. What if it were a Korean ship that saw them and rescued hundreds of people? Then they would have to be brought into Korea. But without going through any legal process, what would happen to the one who brought them in? It would not be easy. But think about the position of those refugees. How desperate would they be? They are on the verge of death. Their children are with them. What wrong have the children done? None. They only came out because they wanted to live. Yet out on the open sea, who would be willing to help?

There have actually been many cases like this. Let me tell you one from long ago. It was during the time of President Park Chung-Hee. That was a very strict and tense period. A Korean cargo ship owner happened to discover such people at sea. Other ships all passed by, but he could not. On his ship, the crew insisted, “Let’s just keep going.” But he could not bring himself to leave them behind. So he stopped the ship. It was actually a fishing vessel, and the holds were already filled with fish—there was no other space to take people on board. Then he made a decision. He said, “Throw all the fish away.” And they dumped out that huge catch, all of it. Then he brought the people on board. Of course, there was strong opposition. “This is dangerous! Do you realize what kind of times we are living in?” It was a very strict era, and to bring those people freely into the country could mean criminal charges. The shipping company itself could collapse. But he said, “I will take responsibility. The lives of these many people are more important.” And as captain, he made the decision to take them in. All of them were saved. As a result, he was fired from his company. And he was heavily investigated by the government. They asked him, “Are you a communist? What are you?” He went through severe questioning.

And then decades passed. The Vietnamese people who were rescued at that time all took root in America. They became business owners, professors, and more. Many years later, they began to search for the man who had saved them. And they actually found him. They brought him to America and held a great welcome celebration for him. When he arrived, he saw that there were even more people than he had originally rescued. Why? Because they had married and had many children. And now all of them looked to this one captain as their savior. Then they asked the captain, “If you were in that same situation again, would you do it once more?” His answer was, it would actually be much harder for him to make that decision a second time. Why? Because the suffering he went through afterward was no small thing. If he had to do it again, he said he would think harder about it. But in the end, he still said, “Yes, I would choose to do the same thing.” Why? Because through that one choice, so many lives were saved. At the time, he rescued about two hundred people. But counting the children and grandchildren who were later born, it became three, four hundred. In the years to come, their number could reach forty thousand. What could be more precious than human life?

In the same way, this man’s character reflects something very similar to the nature of God. He did not despise the stranger; he protected them. And this is exactly what God commanded Israel to do.

And then there is the fatherless. The fatherless have no parents. Can you imagine what it is like for a child to grow up without parents from the very beginning? As I raise my two children, I see how often they make mistakes, how much they go through trial and error, how much encouragement they need from their mom and dad. They need money, they need food, they need someone to take care of them. But if suddenly there were no parents—who would be responsible for them? Who would encourage them? When they need something, who would buy it for them? When their hearts are broken, who would comfort them? They have no one to rely on at all. God says, think of such children.

And then there is the widow. I cannot truly know the depth of that bitter pain because I myself have never become a widow. But after getting married and living as husband and wife, I can now imagine what kind of suffering a widow must go through, especially when people are older—sixty, seventy years old—and their spouse passes away. I used to think as a child, “Since they are elderly, it must not be such a great sorrow. After all, it is the natural course of life.” That was my thought. But now I realize the pain of an elderly person losing a spouse is enormous. Why? Because it is as if half of their own self has been taken away. The one they loved is gone. And no one else can ever take that place. How unbearable must that be?

It is true for men as well, but think especially of the woman, the widow. No husband to help her, no husband to protect her. How easily the men in the village might harass her or look down on her? How much gossip will follow? And on top of that, she still has to raise her children. How much will those children be despised as the “fatherless”? The suffering of raising them is beyond words. And yet, God always keeps such widows in His heart—always. What other god is there like this?

There is a god I know who told a company president, “Divorce your wife, and I will make your business succeed.” There are gods like that—gods that even drive a man to cast away his wife. But this god of ours not only cares for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, he even says, “Do not forsake the wife of your youth!” In Malachi 2:15, He says, “I, the LORD, did not do such a thing. How much more should you not cast off the wife of your youth—the wife with whom you made a covenant, the wife who suffered with you in your younger days. Will you now drive her away just because life has become comfortable? Will you commit such evil? Do not do this.” Through all these things, what do we see? We see the nature of this god—the god we serve. This is his nature.

So what do we clearly know now? That God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, and He Himself was nailed to the cross to pay for our sins, and in this way He saved us from the curse, from punishment, and from destruction. We believe this. And I thought to myself, “Why would He do such a thing?” The answer is this: that is the way He has always been. From the beginning, the very laws by which He governed His people were already filled with mercy, compassion, and love. He has always remembered those in a pitiful state, those who were suffering. This is what fills His heart.

That is why, when mankind sinned and was headed for hell, God did not say, “You deserve to go there!” Instead, how does He see us? He looks at us as the stranger. He looks at us as the fatherless. He looks at us as the widow. In God’s eyes, that is truly the condition of humanity.

This is why the Scripture says, “You are strangers on this earth.” And how hard is the life of a stranger? We wonder, “Why is life so difficult?” It is because we are strangers. God sees our lives as those of strangers.

And when we did not know God, we were like the fatherless. God made us, and He has a plan for us, but we became completely numb to Him. We did not know Him, even saying there is no God. That is the condition of the fatherless. Yet God continued to remember such fatherless ones.

And though we are both men and women, in God’s eyes we are all like the widow. We should have received a blessing through our Husband, but we are separated from Him. Because of our sin, we are cut off, unable to receive our Husband’s love and protection. That is our condition. And yet, God is mindful of such widows.

So God sent Jesus Christ to us to be our Lord. He no longer lets us wander as strangers but has promised us a home—our true homeland in Heaven.

And He no longer leaves us as the fatherless. Instead, He has sent us the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. So we are no longer orphans.

And He does not leave us as widows either. Jesus says to us, “I have married you!” So when we face hardship, we can go to our Bridegroom, Jesus, and tell Him our need. And He helps us. Even in my own home, my wife will sometimes send me an SOS: “Please send money quickly!” Then I must find a way to send it. Or she says, “I’m sick. Please come and help me.” A wife with a husband can call on him for such help. Or she says, “The children won’t listen to me. Can you please talk to them?” In the same way, Jesus has become our Husband. He helps us and He leads us.

The god we serve is a god with such a nature. Through the Law, we can clearly see his character. And now, this god is calling us to live together with him. This god has already revealed his nature most clearly by sending His Son, Jesus Christ. Beloved, there are many gods in the world, but may you enter into an everlasting relationship with this god. May you live as his bride, as his children, and enjoy the true happiness that comes from him. I bless you in the name of Jesus.

I’ll pray.

Father God, we truly thank You for sending Jesus Christ to reveal Your love to us. We were like strangers, like orphans, and like widows—but You have filled us with Your joy and happiness. Lord, help everyone here to know You more deeply, to draw nearer to You, and to receive and enjoy all that You give. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.